Charlie Ross inducted to the Kansas Co

A newsletter for and about Kansas Electric Cooperatives
RuralPower
VOL . L XV, NO. 3
INSIDE
2 |Calendar
3 |Co-op annual
meetings
4 |Co-op Youth
Leadership Camp
wins Community
Service Award
Please send any
story ideas to
[email protected].
MARCH 20, 2015
Charlie Ross inducted to the Kansas Co-op Hall of Fame
At a ceremony
Cooperative
on March 11,
Hall of Fame
Charles “Charlie”
showcase
Ross was posthudisplay at the
mously inducted
Kansas State
into the Kansas
Fairgrounds.
Cooperative Hall
This permanent
of Fame.
display, located
The Kansas
in the Pride of
Cooperative Hall
Kansas Buildof Fame was estabing, highlights
lished in 1999 to
the achievehonor individuments of our
als in Kansas who
state’s great
have been instruco-op leaders
mental in developand preserves
ing and spreading
our cooperathe cooperative
tive history. It
philosophy.
also plays a
Members of Charlie Ross’ family join KEC’s Bruce Graham to accept the
“The Hall of
posthumous award from the Kansas Cooperative Council staff and board. significant role
Fame is important
in educating
for recognizing the contributions of co-op pioothers about the uniqueness of the cooperative
neers and honoring those who have gone above
business model.
and beyond the call in advancing the cooperative
KEC’s Bruce Graham, KEPCo’s Marcus
philosophy,” said Bruce Graham, KEC’s CEO.
Harris, and other co-op officials joined several
Ross’ biographical information will be
members of the Ross family in honoring Charlie
placed alongside other honorees in the Kansas
for his achievements.
Kansas electric cooperative officials attend NRECA’s Annual Meeting
PO Box 4267
Topeka, KS 66604-0267
www.kec.org
Join Kansas Electric Cooperatives
Facebook page
More than 6,000 representatives
from electric cooperatives across the
nation, including more than 100 from
Kansas, attended the NRECA Annual
Meeting in Orlando, FL, Feb. 23-25.
At this meeting, co-op officials
set NRECA’s legislative and organizational agenda for 2015. In addition to considering and acting upon
policy resolutions, delegates received
reports from NRECA officials, heard
addresses by key public figures and
business experts, and attended
educational forums on major issues
affecting electric cooperatives and
their members.
Jacob Rose,
Rep. Joe
a high-school
Seiwert, who also
student sponserves on the
sored by DS&O,
Ark Valley Board,
served as the
met with Rose
Kansas repreat the Annual
sentative on the
Meeting and has
Youth Leadership
invited him to
Council (YLC)
speak about his
Jacob Rose carried the Kansas state
fl
ag
during
the
opening
ceremony.
during the Annual
Youth Tour and
Meeting.
YLC experiences at the Kansas House
Rose worked in the NRECA Con- Utilities and Telecommunications
gressional Action Center encouraging Committee, date yet to be set.
attendees to contact their represenTo view the meeting photos,
tatives about co-op issues, such as
visit http://kansaselectric.smugmug.
keeping electricity affordable.
com/2015-NRECA-Annual-Meeting.
MARCH 20, 2015
RURAL POWER
1
Federated Board elects
Loren Dickens as Treasurer
Loren
Dickens, President of Radiant
Electric’s board,
was recently
elected to serve
as Treasurer of
the Federated
Rural Electric
Insurance Board.
Loren Dickens
Dickens
has been a director at Radiant since
1993. For the past 19 years, he has
served as the alternate trustee to the
KEC board. Since 2012, Dickens also
serves as the Region 7 Director-Director representative to Federated’s board.
“I recognize the important role
Federated plays in creating and
maintaining a culture of safety in our
industry and will do my best to help
build on that advocacy program,”
Dickens said.
co-opcalendar
MARCH
23 26 Sunflower Board of Directors Meeting, Holcomb Station, Holcomb
MDM Meeting, KEPCo Headquarters, Topeka
APRIL
7
7-9 8-10 13 15-16 17 23 30 KEC’s HR Summit, Ambassador Hotel, Wichita
NRECA Retirement Seminar, Marriott Courtyard, Salina
KMSDA Spring Meeting, Drury Inn, 400 W. Douglas Avenue, Wichita
KEC Annual CLE Training, 8:30 a.m. – 4:10 p.m., KEPCo Headquarters, Topeka
KEPCo Board of Trustees Meeting, KEPCo Headquarters, Topeka
Sunflower Board of Directors Meeting, Sunflower Headquarters, Hays
MDM Meeting, KEPCo Headquarters, Topeka
KEC’s IT Summit, Drury Inn, 400 W. Douglas Avenue, Wichita
annualmeetings
MARCH
21 Pioneer, lunch at 11:30 a.m., meeting at 10 a.m., Health Fair 7-12 p.m., Grant County Civic Center, 1000 W. Patterson,
Ulysses
21 Sumner-Cowley, lunch at 11:30 a.m., meeting at 1:15 p.m., Wellington High School, 1700 E. 16th Street, Wellington
24 Ninnescah, dinner at 6 p.m., meeting after meal, Municipal Building, 117 West 3rd, Pratt
26 Doniphan, dinner at 6:30 p.m., meeting at 7:30 p.m., Doniphan West, S. Campus, Hwy 20 West, Denton
Co-ops attend CoBank’s
customer meeting
KEC’s HR Summit
Doug Lindahl, DS&O trustee, (right) chats with
Coach Jimmy Johnson at the CoBank reception.
CoBank held its annual Western
Plains Customer Meeting on March
12-13 in Wichita. Approximately 60
co-op officials representing 15 Kansas
electric co-ops attended the meeting.
The program is designed to give
directors and managers valuable
knowledge, insight and information
that can be used both professionally
and personally. This year’s meeting
featured presentations from leading
experts on the economy, politics and
business leadership.
Guest speaker Jimmy Johnson, legendary football coach and TV analyst,
shared life lessons and team management strategies.
2
RURAL POWER MARCH 20, 2015
upcomingtraining
KEC has scheduled the 2015 HR
Summit at the Ambassador Hotel on
April 7. Topics include an update by
NRECA’s Michelle Gordy, creating a
positive workplace by Kristina Dietrick
of Creative Business Solutions, affirmative action plans by Terry Williamson of
HudsonMann, and a discussion of the
next generation workforce by NRECA’s
Michelle Rostom.
The HR Summit is $175 per participant and includes lunch. Registration
deadline is March 20.
Retirement Seminar
KEC is sponsoring a two-day
NRECA Retirement Planning Seminar
designed for co-op employees and
spouses. This event will be held April
7-9 at the Courtyard Marriott, Salina.
Registration is $60 per person.
Topics include investment basics,
NRECA retirement benefits, calculating retirement needs, legal affairs and
estate planning, protecting assets, and
financial products and services. One-onone retirement projection reviews with
a professional investment advisor will be
scheduled immediately after the meeting.
KEC’s CLE program
KEC’s Continuing Legal Education
(CLE) program will be held on Monday,
April 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. at
KEPCo’s office in Topeka.
Topics include ethics tips from
Deborah Hughes, a discussion on legal
and EPA issues by NRECA staff, a legislative update by Sen. Terry Bruce, a
review of board purpose titled “Crossing the Double Yellow Center Line into
Micromanagement” by Tim Larson,
and a presentation by KEC’s Kim
Christiansen.
Registration deadline is April 8. The
Kansas CLE Commission has approved
this CLE for 7.0 credit hours, including
2.0 hours of ethics.
KEC creates IT Summit
KEC has created an IT Summit for
co-op employees who manage information technology needs. This new
training will be held at the Drury Inn,
Wichita, on Thursday, April 30.
Topics include a discussion on security assessments by NISC’s Sean Wiese,
virtualization and storage technology by
the Davenport Group, and a roundtable
discussion for the attendees.
KANSAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES , INC. • PO BOX 4267, TOPEKA , KS , 66604-0267
Senator Pat Roberts stops at KEC to visit with ag leaders
U.S. Senator Pat Roberts’
state schedule for the President’s Day recess included a
stop at the Kansas Electric
Cooperatives, Inc. (KEC),
office in Topeka. On Feb. 19,
he hosted a roundtable discussion with Kansas leaders
on agriculture issues and met
with local media.
Nearly 20 different
groups responded to the
Senator’s invitation to provide
industry updates. Regulatory
overreach was a common
theme with the EPA and the
Lesser Prairie Chicken cited
as significant challenges.
Bruce Graham, KEC CEO, listens as US Senator Pat Roberts
discusses issues with ag leaders.
Brown-Atchison
Brown-Atchison held its 77th
annual meeting on February 27 at the
cooperative headquarters in Horton.
More than 120 members registered
for the meeting and enjoyed a catered
lunch. Last year’s Youth Tour winner,
Kandace Linck, gave a speech about her
experience in Washington, D.C.
Joe Taliaferro, David Hinton, and
Daryl Sales were all re-elected to the
board.
Nemaha-Marshall
119 members of Nemaha-Marshall
gathered for their annual meeting on
March 3. The meeting was held at the
American Legion Building in Axtell.
Members received a catered lunch
prior to the meeting. Guest speakers included KEC’s Dave Holthaus,
and youth winners Chloe Cudney and
Andrew Feldkamp.
Re-elected to the board were
Merlin Frerking and Tom Niehues.
Newly elected was Harry Moser. Moser
replaces Larry Donahue who retired
after 16 years on the board.
Flint Hills
More than 300 people attended
Flint Hills’ 77th Annual Meeting on
March 3 at the Herington Community
Building. Prior to the meeting, members
were treated to a meal.
During the meeting, the members
heard reports and were introduced to
the student winners selected to attend
KEC’s youth programs this summer.
Bruce Graham, KEC and Marcus
Harris, KEPCo, also spoke to the
membership.
Re-elected to the board were Dale
Andres, Duane Kaiser, and Terry Olsen.
Newly-elected was Korby Effland.
Heartland
More than 100 members and guests
gathered on March 5 at Fort Scott Community College to participate in Heartland’s Annual Meeting and enjoy an ice
cream social.
Guest speaker was Marcus Harris,
KEPCo’s CEO.
Ernest Troth and Bernard O’Brien
were re-elected to the board. Harry
Oehlert, who served as a director for 15
years, chose not to stand for re-election
and that position has been eliminated
as part of the board’s ongoing reduction
from 12 members to eight members.
Steven McFarland was elected to
the board, replacing Pete DeLange, who
served as a director for 30 years.
Bluestem Electric
Bluestem Electric held its 16th
Annual Meeting on March 9 at the
Rock Creek Jr/Sr High School in Flush.
Approximately 275 members and
KANSAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES , INC. • PO BOX 4267, TOPEKA , KS , 66604-0267
Co-ops congratulate new
RUS Administrator
On March 12, Brandon McBride was
appointed as Administrator of the Rural
Utilities Service.
NRECA’s CEO JoAnn Emerson said,
“NRECA and electric cooperatives congratulate Brandon on this appointment. He’s been
a staunch advocate for rural America in the
Senate, and we’re thankful that he will continue his public service as an advocate for
the programs and infrastructure on which so
many rural communities rely.”
McBride serves as staff on the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry. He previously served as a legislative
assistant for Senator Blanche Lincoln.
annualmeetings
guests attended both the meeting and
the vendor-products fair.
Trustee elections were conducted by
mail ballot last December. Re-elected to
the board were Gary Buss, Ervin Gnadt,
Bruce Meyer and Harold McCarter.
Guest speakers included Marcus
Harris, KEPCo, and Bob Hall, KEC.
Butler
Butler held its annual meeting on
March 12 at the Circle Middle School in
Benton.
More than 200 members attended
the meeting and passed a bylaw revision
regarding trustee qualifications.
Guest speakers included KEPCo’s
Marcus Harris, and the 2014 youth
winners Allison Hepburn and Peyton
Wheeler.
Newly-elected to the board were
Gary Hill and Boyd Ray.
Lyon-Coffey
Lyon-Coffey’s Annual Meeting was
held March 16 at the Burlington High
School. Approximately 600 members
and guests attended and enjoyed a fried
chicken dinner from Olpe.
Guest speakers included Marcus
Harris, KEPCo, and the 2014 Youth
Tour winners Antony Furse and Malorie
Wagner.
Re-elected to the board were David
Kunkel and Donna Williams.
MARCH 20, 2015 RURAL POWER
3
PumpSmart program featured
at NET Conference
Midwest Energy was asked to
showcase its PumpSmart program at the
Touchstone Energy NET Conference in
Tucson, AZ, Jan. 26-29, 2015.
Michael Billinger, Midwest Energy’s Manager of Rates and Demand
Response, served as a panelist of the
“Pump It Up! Trends and Technologies for Big Pump Loads” session. Issues
covered included motor efficiency, the
relationship between large oil and gas
members and their utility, and irrigation
load control.
“Being a panelist gave me the
opportunity to provide attending
cooperative representatives with information regarding Midwest Energy’s
irrigation load control program called
Pump$mart, as well as learn about other
co-op programs and gain information
regarding current topics within the
industry,” stated Billinger.
Created in 2010, Pump$mart participants curtail load during the summer
months and, in exchange, receive a
credit based on the amount of load that
they shed. Currently, the Pump$mart
program has 571 accounts enrolled with
approximately 25.3 MW of subscribed
load.
insympathy
Darlene Kopsa
Darlene Kopsa, wife of former
KEPCo Trustee Melroy Kopsa, died on
Feb. 7.
Funeral services were held on Feb.
14 at the Presbyterian Church in Cuba,
KS.
Memorials may be sent in care of
Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home, 1104
20th St., Belleville, KS 66935.
Barbara Riggs
Barbara Riggs, wife of SumnerCowley Trustee Charles Riggs, died on
March 2.
Funeral services were held on
March 6 at the Conway Springs United
Methodist Church.
Memorials to the Harry Hynes
Memorial Hospice or CS City Library
may be sent in care of Ebersole Mortuary, PO Box 156, Conway Springs, KS
67031.
4
RURAL POWER MARCH 20, 2015
Co-op Youth Leadership Camp wins Community Service Award
Nearly 100 youth from Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming attended the 2014 Cooperative
Youth Leadership Camp near Steamboat Springs, CO. This camp recently won the NRECA Community Service Award for youth programs.
During the NRECA Annual
Meeting last month, the Cooperative
Youth Leadership Camp was given a
national Community Service Award for
youth programs. The camp is a weeklong program held each July to teach
the cooperative business model.
“This enriching program will
prepare these kids not only for running
a co-op someday but for leading any
enterprise,” said NRECA CEO Jo Ann
Emerson.
Based in Colorado, this leadership
camp is open to students from co-ops
in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and
Wyoming. Participants can run for a
seat on the board and serve on committees. The students spend the week overseeing the basic operations of the camp.
The camp builds leadership skills,
while providing a deep dive into the
seven cooperative principles. Participants also learn about the political
process and how they can play a pivotal
role. This program provides a set of life
skills and a lifetime of memories.
Established in the 1970s, currently
20 Kansas cooperatives send students to
this leadership camp. This year’s camp is
July 11-17. Visit KEC’s website or http://
bit.ly/CYLCVideo to view KEC’s new
camp video.
KEC staff promote electric co-op careers at university events
Kansas Electric Cooperatives staff promoted electric cooperative careers at university
career fairs.
On Feb. 11, Larry Freeze, Editor, and Makenzie Crow, Communications Intern, hosted a
booth at the Kansas University Career Fair.
Numerous college students stopped by
the KEC booth to learn about internship and
career opportunities in the electric co-op field.
On March 5, Carrie Kimberlin, Communications Specialist, participated in a spring career
fair event hosted by Kansas State University. At
this event, students signed up for times with a
variety of companies to conduct mock inter-
views, review their portfolios, and learn more
about the companies at the event.
Larry Freeze, Editor, visits with a KU student
about the electric cooperatives.
KANSAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES , INC. • PO BOX 4267, TOPEKA , KS , 66604-0267